The next place I went after Costco was Albertson's, which is across the street. I didn't need a whole lot, so when I was done I decided to go through the self-check. The lines at all the registers were long.
As I was pushing my cart in that direction I noticed I was walking along more or less between two men pushing carts that were also lightly loaded. Then I became aware that they were both putting on more speed and navigating to get in front of me. I recognized that competitive energy, not confined to men certainly, but typical of what I see in Harry when he is anxious to be the first in line somewhere. I was in a hurry too, but suddenly it seemed so inconsequential, which of us had to wait an extra couple of minutes because of not getting ahead of the others. So I slowed down, let them pull ahead of me, and looked to see where I could fit in after them.
It turned out, as they charged ahead, vying for the further self-serve spots, the shopper at the first self serve spot gathered his things and left, leaving me an empty spot to get started with my purchase immediately. I didn't look to see where the two men ended up, really this time it didn't matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment